The student body will have a chance to vote in a referendum that directly impacts tuition on November 18.
UW-La Crosse is required to update their Academic Initiative differential tuition agreement with the UW-System Board of Regents in December, but before going before the board, Chancellor Joe Gow has asked the student body to voice their opinion on the issue.
In the past few years, students have been paying thirty dollars each semester towards academic initiatives, which funds many programs on campus focused into four areas: research, diversity, advising, and internationalization.
This dollar amount was matched by the University for every student, but this has now caused problems for the program.
"The challenge around it is that when it was originally instituted, the previous administration said we will match the student's contributions, and that never happened," said Gow, "so to maintain what we have here, we need a forty five dollar per year increase."
In order to maintain all of the programming and keep the eleven staff members funded through Academic Initiatives, Chancellor Gow must go before the Board of Regents to prove that the student body agrees with the increase in tuition.
To provide this proof, the University will hold a two-question referendum to both inform the student population and allow each student the opportunity to either agree or disagree with the increase in tuition.
"Sometimes there are issues that are so extraordinary that people want them taken out to the entire student body," said Gow.
Because the University needs enough evidence to prove the student body backs the increases, this vote will determine whether or not any such increase takes place.
"If it's voted down, basically we would have one more year of this programming, and then we have a very hard decision... do we lay off eleven valuable people or do we lay off some and keep some and find some way to pay them?"
The first part of the referendum will deal with whether or not students wish to maintain programming as it has been the past few years. The second will ask whether or not the students wish to increase the amount slightly in order to allow enhanced programming, including extended library hours and tutoring.
To maintain programming as it operates currently, Academic Initiative differential tuition would be increased from $60 to $105 a year, and to expand programming, students would be charged no more than $120 a year.
Gow will be holding a scheduled open forum Nov. 13 where he hopes to answer any questions, especially pertaining to differential tuition, before the student body goes to vote.
"When we charge you money, we take that money and we put it into the University and we spend it on things that we think make a better university. So, what would be happening is we would be ending a lot of very beneficial and important things here at UW-La Crosse," said Gow.
The resolution proposed to the UW-L Student Senate, which includes more information on Academic Initiative differential tuition and the two questions being included in the referendum, is linked here: Academic Initiatives resolution
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